Reno's country comedy band the Saddle Tramps has the CDs, the T-shirts, posters and hair pomade. Now the band is ready to sell its own brand of beer.
Not quite as unappetizing as the Moose Drool brand, the Saddle Tramps will unveil its Trailer Ale with a beer-release show at 9 p.m. Saturday at Great Basin Brewing Co., in Sparks. Trailer Ale is described as a cross between the brewery's Truckee River Red and Nevada Gold brews.
"This is the first of big things to come from us and Great Basin," said Tramps singer Scotty Roller. "This is just a test-the-waters kind of deal," he said, adding that the band and Great Basin hope to do more brews in the future. "This is basically for me and (Great Basin) to see how fast the beer will sell out."
Roller also has a graphics and marketing business, so getting his band on a beer label is not unfamiliar territory. But beer making is, so he left that up to Great Basin.
"It's something we left almost entirely up to Great Basin," Roller said. "They're in the beer business, and I know how to put hype behind something. Not only that, I haven't had a drink in almost seven years. In the beginning we were the biggest party band, and by the end of the night we'd all be blacked out somewhere. I'll never forget what that's about, and for a long time it was an issue I struggled with. But if somebody else wants to get plowed, go ahead."
The lack of drinking doesn't seem to have dulled the Saddle Tramps comedy edge, but along with laying off drinking, the band also wants to back off on playing little clubs every weekend.
"It's high time to get a beer released, you know what I mean?" Roller said. "The big goal for the next year is to spread our brand and make it available. We're coming up on our second 10 years, so something's gotta give. I don't want to keep playing every little joint just to sell a T-shirt."
He said the band's merchandise, including the beer that he hopes to eventually package and sell in stores, reminds people that the band is still out there.
Meanwhile, the Tramps have dropped their cover charges, so Saturday's show will be $5.
"Nobody's got any money right now, and the desire to go out and have a good time is probably bigger than ever," Roller said. "It'll be more than an evening's worth of laughing and rock ‘n' roll (even though the band doesn't dabble in rock much)."
Aside from future beers, the Saddle Tramps also have a two-disc anthology in the works, as well as a book about the band, featuring handwritten lyrics and other relics from the past 10 years. Keep up with the band at www.myspace.com/thesaddletramps.
